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Education
Overview of the Education in Pakistan The landscape of the education sector in Pakistan has gone through significant changes over the last few decades, including many positive changes such as the rising enrollment rate, shrinking gender gap, and the increasing number of variant forms of schooling. However, due to the decentralized system of the Ministry of Education, the central government holds low amounts of authority and control over the implementation of policy, and education provision has been contained by governance, quality and effectiveness.Pakistan Economist Due to the historical development of the region, the education system is relatively standardized across the country. Pakistan's education system consists of 4 stages, (1) primary schools including Grades 1-5, (2) middle schools with include Grades 6-8, (3) high schools which include Grades 9-10, and (4) and intermediate schooling, for those who want to spend two years in college. After two years in college, students may continue on to receive their B.A/B.S. Single gender schools are common in Pakistan, with co-educational schools only existing in more urban areas. Forms of Schooling 'Gupta, A., Ed. (2007). Going to school in South Asia. Westport, CT, Greenwood.8. Schooling in Pakistan / Sajid Ali and Iffat Farah There are four distinct systems of education and examination in Pakistan, public school system, private school system, Deni Madaris and non-formal education. Each differs by various factors - the curricula, assessments, management system, a source of income, and medium of instruction. In the section below we will focus on understanding the differences in the formal school setting. Government schools * Government schools are fully supported by the government by maintaining the physical condition of the buildings, hiring teachers, prescribing textbooks/materials, and determining rules and regulations. Although teachers and students at these schools come from low socio-economic backgrounds, a fee, even though it is relatively low, is charged for tuition. However, there is still another school cost, like uniforms and learning materials, are placed on the parents. The medium of instruction in all four provinces is Urdu, which tends to not be the first language of many of the students (provincial languages are more often used at home). Because there is usually a shortage of resources and teacher at government schools, classrooms are multi-grade and extremely crowded. Private schools After the end of nationalization in 1979, the role of the private sector in Pakistan increased significantly. Because of the poor conditions and high inaccessibility rate, parents began to shift children from government to private schools. Additionally, Private schools are no longer a of the urban or elite community, but rather poor households also use these facilities to a large extent, due to their better locations/frequency, reasonable fees, low teacher absenteeism and higher qualifications, and opportunity to more quality instruction in the fields of mathematics and language.The Pakistan Economist In fact, in Pakistan 25%–33% of all children now attend private schools. Amjad, R., & MacLeod, G. (2014). Academic effectiveness of private, public and private–public partnership schools in Pakistan. ''International Journal of Educational Development(37), 22-31. * Owned and managed by private individuals, trusts, and communities, the number of private schools in Pakistan is growing rapidly. Although originally offered as a means of education for predominantly upper-class families, changes in government have led to an increase in public-private partnerships, increasing the number and variety of Private schools in Pakistan. The first type of private schooling is characterized by high tuition fees. However, these private school classrooms are usually adequately equipped with quality resources and teacher. Although English is usually the medium of instruction, and students and teachers from these schools tend to use English during interactions in and out of formal schooling, Urdu is taught as a compulsory subject. * Another form of private schooling located in both urban and rural areas offers lower fees and housed in residential buildings. Although English again tends to be the medium language of instruction, both students and teachers usually have a low proficiency in English. * Private schools follow the national curriculum. Data * A private school student is 43% more likely to outperform a government school student on being able to read a story in Urdu (Sindhi), 38% more likely to succeed on the arithmetic task and 80% more likely than a government school student to be able to read a sentence in English. Amjad, R., & MacLeod, G. (2014). Academic effectiveness of private, public and private–public partnership schools in Pakistan. International Journal of Educational Development(37), 22-31. * Community-Based Schools * In collaboration with non-governmental organizations, and government or international donor agencies, Community-Based schools are established in local communities and normally serve poor and rural communities. These communities tend to have little or no government or private schooling established. Although a small tuition fee is charged, NGOs offer support in managing the schools, and training and monitoring teachers. Most Community-Based Schools aim to address the need for primary level education, or girls access to schooling in rural areas. Although most schools use Urdu as the medium of language for instruction, there are some community schools that use English. Madressas * A variety of boards, including the Pakistan Madressa Education Board (created 2003), Wafq-ul-Madaris, Wafaq ul Madaris, Tanzim ul Madaris, Wafaq ul Madaris (Shia) Pakistan, and Rabta-tul-madaris-al-Islamia. These schools offer education beginning at primary through post-graduate levels. Usually, but not always, madressas are attached to a mosque and receive very minimal financial support from the government. However, they do receive funding from national and international Muslim groups, as well as individual donors. Madressas rarely charge a fee and more often than not offer residential facilities for students. The student population that attends these schools come from low-income families or poor parents who can not provide their children's basic needs or access an alternative form of education. 'Curriculum & Pedagogy'Gupta, A., Ed. (2007). Going to school in South Asia. Westport, CT, Greenwood.8. Schooling in Pakistan / Sajid Ali and Iffat Farah: Curriculum in Pakistan is centrally overseen by the National Curriculum Wing of the Ministry of Education. The National Curriculum Council (NCC) oversees the curriculum development and implementation. The Council is comprised of three members of each of the Provincial Bureaus of Curriculum, one member from the National Curriculum Bureau, Textbook Boards Bureau, and Education Department. The NCC oversees and implements curriculum through the authoritative provision textbooks. Additional functions of NCC include developing and coordinating the following, * Minimum National Standards in all subjects and for all grades (pre-primary to XII) * National Curriculum Framework in consultation with all stakeholders. * Research in Curriculum, teachers’ training, and assessment. * Linkages and networking amongst all concerned institutions at both the national and international levels. * Uniform minimum quality standards in the curriculum. According to Pakistan's "National Curriculum Framework" publication, they define the curriculum as "the planned and guided learning experiences and intended outcomes, formulated through systematic reconstruction of knowledge and experience under auspices of school, for the learners‘ continuous and willful growth in personal-social competence." Some of the compulsory Classes in Primary Education are: * English * Urdu/Darsi * Math * Science * Social Studies * Islamic studies Once a student enters secondary schooling, they are placed into one of three streams, science, art, or commerce, with typically determines their future profession. Students are streamlined, not because of their interests, but based on their academic performance in previous years of study. One of the variances in Pakistani curriculum is seen within Madressa schooling. Curriculum in these schools is characterized by teaching religious subjects, including Hadith, Quran, and Arabic, as well as literature. Although some Madressas have introduced some secular subjects, such as science, math, and Pakistani studies, those Madrassas tend to be associated with the Pakistan Madrassa Education Board. Despite the government's attempts, most Madrassas are affiliated with their own Examination Board. Pakistan has had a very long struggle with ensuring quality in all of its schools. Although some private schools in Pakistan promote learner engagement and understanding through student-centered learning, most Pakistani schools employ teacher-centered earning and heavily use rote-based instruction that heavily focus' on memorization. '''Money, Money, MoneyNATIONAL EDUCATION POLICY 2017 There are currently about 25 million children of age 5 to 16 years are out of school in Pakistan, and yet federal spending on education in the last decade has been relatively low, with the government only spending 2.8% of the country's GDP in the education system. About 89% of that spending has predominantly been spent on salaries, leaving a small amount of about 11% for the developmental efforts, such as a provision of school facilities, teachers’ training, curriculum development, monitoring and supervision of education. Assessments'''Gupta, A., Ed. (2007). Going to school in South Asia. Westport, CT, Greenwood.8. Schooling in Pakistan / Sajid Ali and Iffat Farah: Because the Pakistani Education System is a decentralized system, with the Ministry of Education holding relatively low amounts of authority and control over the implementation of education in the country. Up until secondary schooling (Grade 8) schools conduct their own annual examinations and standards for grade promotions. Once a student has entered secondary schooling, he/she will appear for external examinations given by the federal Examination Board. These Boards administer exams and award certificates of achievement to students through Grade 10, after which they are must go to the Boards of Intermediate Education. '''The Pakistani government is trying to change the culture to increase assessments. There are multiple types of assessments used, formative, summative, and large-scale assessments (PISA, TIMSS). Pakistan is scheduled to participate in TIMSS 2019. Gender and Education Overview According to the UNESCO eAtlas of Gender Equality in education, currently there are 3.2 million primary aged girls out-of-school (29.4%). While Pakistan has committed to ending gender disparities in education through various forms of policy, there is still a lot to be done. Reasons for Gender DisparitiesWhy Gender Equality in Basic Education in Pakistan? Poverty- Poverty is linked closely with low education levels. When girls do not become educated due to lack of funds for education in their household, a vicious circle is perpetuated. Low education budget-''' Scarcity of resources slows down the efforts of education departments to open more schools, provide missing facilities in schools, and offer incentives to girls from poor families. 'Gender division of labour-T'here are very strict gender roles in Pakistan and more often than not, women are expected to be responsible for housework, and are not allowed to work outside of the home. Therefore, it is common belief that there is little incentive for girls to gain an education as the education if they are to stay in the home. 'Shortage of schools-' Parents usually prefer schools to be one gender however because there is a shortage of girls’ schools, especially in rural areas, they must travel long distances to school. Schools are not easily accessible for girls 'Shortage of female teacher-' According to cultural norms, girls should be taught by female teachers, so when there are insufficient female teachers, many parents do not enrol their girls in school. 'Conflict- '''Ongoing conflict between various groups in parts of Pakistan has compounded the issues affecting girls’ access to education. When there is poor security, parents are even less willing for their girls to attend school. What has been done? ' ''' Laws Article 37-B of the Constitution of Pakistan (1973) provides that: * "The State shall remove illiteracy and provide free and compulsory secondary education within minimum possible period." 18th Amendment in 2010, Article 25-A enshrined the right to education for all children aged 5–16 years into the Constitution: * "The State shall provide free and compulsory education to all children of the age of five to sixteen years in such manner as may be determined by law. The 18th Amendment provided provinces in Pakistan with legislative, fiscal and administrative autonomy. This offers significant opportunities for education, including efficient resource allocation and public service delivery, to address to address the needs specific to provinces and districts, as well as involve more stakeholders. However, it is in these social and cultural contexts where education, specifically girls education, is not highly valued. Commitments '''Millennium Development Goals (2000) In Pakistan has adopted 16 targets and 41 indicators against which progress towards achieving the Eight Goals of the MDG’s is measured. MDG 2 and 3 focused specifically on education. # Achieve universal primary education # Promote gender equality and empower women Over the past five years, there has been no noticeable change in youth literacy rates in Pakistan, though with some increase in female rates, the gender parity index has risen ] ]Sustainable Development Goals 4Ministry of Planning, Development, and Reform Pakistan was the first country to adopt SDGs 2030 agenda through a unanimous resolution of parliament. The seven pillars of Vision-2025 are fully aligned with the SDGs, providing a comprehensive long-term strategy for achieving inclusive growth and sustainable development. "We believe that SDGs agenda for development isn't an international agenda; it is our own agenda. It reflects our ambition and desire to give our people better quality of life. Therefore, we must take ownership of SDGs with complete devotion and passion" -Ahsan Iqbal (Ministrer of Planning, Development, and Reform) In 2016–2017, stakeholders in the provinces in Pakistan conducted gap analysis exercises on SDG-4 to better identify areas where the education sector was already aligned with recommended implementation strategies to achieve SDG-4, as well as entry points for refocused planning. One of the areas that showed needed attention was girls education. The table below shows the key areas where further alignment is required and the actions needed to achieve gender equality: Did it work? SDG-4 Gap Analysis ]'One Nation, One Vision-' National Education Policy 2017-2025 In 2013, Pakistan ranked 113th out of 120 countries in UNESCO’s Education for All Education Development Index, their literacy rate (57% and lower than 50% in rural areas) lags well behind the country’s neighbours. In response, Pakistan created 7 pillars in the National Education Policy 2017-2005, the 1st of which was "Putting People First: Developing Human and Social Capital." Not only did they aiming to expand the National education budget to 4% by 2018, they also committed to "achieving gender parity, gender equality and empower women and girls within shortest possible time." ] ASER ASER Pakistan has helped to ensure that the Post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) did not repeat the mistake of the MDGs and assume that access and completion of primary and lower secondary would lead to learning. As the data is collected at the household-level, they have made an important contribution to better measuring and understanding gaps in equitable learning that otherwise would go unnoticed and also have reached out to most marginalized segments of the society. 2016 ASER Report Resources Punjab Commission on the Status of Women Why Gender Equality in Basic Education in Pakistan? (UNESCO) Pakistan SDG Gap Analysis National Curriculum Framework Videos of Schools in Pakistan Boys School in Pakistan - The comments in this video also represent the tension between Pakistan and India. https://youtu.be/46a0ndhjaDs Low Fee Schools in Pakistan - Video by PERIGlobal - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKk4NhFhDbo Pakistani Textbook tension against India - https://youtu.be/coP35xNIsDs Relevant Statistics: Aser Report Card 2016 ] UNESCO eAtlas of Gender Inequality in Educationhttps://tellmaps.com/uis/gender/#!/profile/WORLD/PAK Pakistan Fact Sheet (UNESCO- 2012) Female|Male&year=latest World Inequality Database on Education (WIDE) Category:Education